Anybody have any Maui fishing recommendations?

[RickyBobby]

I'll be staying near Kihei from Feb. 8-17.

Thanks in advance

[polarsusd81]

I didn't fish while I was out there, but found out at the local fish and dive shop that you do not need a license to fish out there. Had I known that, I probably would have tried it. The downside to fishing on a charter in Hawaii is that any fish caught on the boat is property of the captain of the boat. If you catch a fish he wants to sell, you might get nothing more than a photo with it. Depending on the day, they might let you take a bit of it. That and it is pretty expensive to get on a boat out there. A better bet might be to just enjoy some snorkling. I ended up buying a mask and snorkle, and rented fins since they would be much too large to bring home. I saw thousands of fish swimming over the reef right outside the resort I stayed at. I was up in Kaanapali, a good ways north of Kihei.

You will be out there in prime whale watching time too. If you haven't considered that yet, I would recommend giving that a shot. When we were out there, the whales were still in the migration from Alaska. I saw a bunch of them in Alaska a year and a half ago.

[Slabasaurus]

+1 on the timing of the whales.

I was scuba diving a while back in the Molokini Crater and we could hear the whales calling each other as they swam between the islands. It was something else. I definitely recommend snorkeling/scuba diving the Molokini crater.

I also did a lot of snorkeling along the lava flows/reefs, there's no shortage of fish/turtles there.

Did not do any fishing, although next time I'm definitely looking into some charters.

[mainbutter]

X-mas 2009, I was in Kauai, and I've gotta agree with a few of the above posts:

1) Buy a nice mask/snorkle/fins and snorkle the reefs near shore, it'll be the best times of your vacation. Thousands of fish, and every now and then a sea turtle, and if you were as lucky as me a monk seal. I spent 50% of my daytime in the water the six days we were there.

2) While I was out free-diving past the breakers, if I dove down 20 feet I could begin to hear what I assume were humpback whales.

I did not do any fishing but really wanted to. There's always next time

[Down Deep]

I can't answer your questioin about Maui fishing reccomendations, but I was on the Big Island last September and when fishing out of Kona. What I found there was ample opportunities and lots of Charter Boats. I spent a little time on the net and whittled my choice down to a few boats. I went down to the dock and talked to the Captians. I got a lot of good information and elected to take a shared charter close-in for multi-species. I had a blast. I caught fish all day using rods and reels about the size of musky gear and the drag sang on almost every fish I caught. The captians do keep the fish, but I asked in advance about taking some fish with me. When were through he slabbed a what he called a green tuna and gave me about 10 lbs of fish. If the captians on Maui are as accomodating as they were in Kona you should have an easy time finding a great day of fishing. Price was $130.00 for an 8 hour charter and I chipped in $50 into the pot for a crew tip.

[CFRay]

I stayed in Kihei in April 2008. I went out as part of a group of 4 on the Reel Hooker out of Lahaina. Cost $200. Turned out to be an eight hour boat ride. One fish caught all day, small tuna maybe 8 lb., not my turn in the seat. Mate stayed up top with the captain most of the day, not too sociable. The other fisherman were good, endured a long day together, I did not know any of them prior to going out.

I'm glad I can say I went deep sea fishing. Had high hopes when we left the harbor.

[Xplorer]

I stayed there in a condo on Sugar beach about 6 years ago. Unless you are determined to go out on a boat, save yourself the money and just take a medium action spinning rod/reel along and fish the shore/docks/piers in the mornings. I used 20/6 powerpro with 10# flouro leaders.

I used basic egg sinker setups with bait (shrimp or squid) and also threw some spinners and rapalas. Caught a variety of fish each day. Met a guy named Eddie on the pier closest to our condo and he told me which were good to eat and which wern't. We ate fresh fish for breakfast every day from then on. And the whales are pretty awesome, the first time you see one breach you'll never forget it. They will be in the bay right in front of Kihei.

I would also recommend taking the road south from Kihei and head down to LaPerouse bay area to see the lava flows and some really cool small beaches.

[RickyBobby]

Thanks for the replies